25
JASMINE
I couldn’t watch my home be raided again. I felt sick to my stomach. I knew I was going to puke, and while it felt good to be in Ghost’s protective hold, I didn’t want to vomit on him. I wasn’t sure how I found the strength to push out of his grasp, but when I went tumbling to the floor, I scrambled.
My feet shuffled beneath me like a goddamn cartoon before I rushed through the door that I knew led to the bathroom.
I sniffled and whimpered as I dropped to my knees. I flipped down the lid of the toilet, and almost immediately, the beautiful breakfast that I ate came up my throat.
Puking up eggs was no fun, that much was for certain.
I felt his hands on my back. In my hair. Soon my hair was pulled back as the coffee came spewing out through my nose. I whimpered. I sputtered. I looked like a fucking mess. And every single time I tried taking in a breath, my stomach overrode my lungs and more came up.
The pineapple, especially, fought its way up my throat.
“It’s okay, I’ve gotcha,” Ghost muttered.
“CHURCH IN AN HOUR! RANGER!” Cap bellowed in the distance.
I felt something cool against the nape of my neck, and it gave me a moment to breathe.
“I—I don’t—I can’t—it’s—this is?—”
Another round of gagging and vomiting cut off my stuttered sentence.
“Shhh, don’t talk,” Ghost said softly as he wiped the cool washcloth against the nape of my neck. He blew softly, and it seemed to calm my stomach a bit so that I could draw in a deep breath. “Just focus on the sound of my voice.”
“Gee,” I whimpered out.
“AND GET ME THAT FUCKING LAPTOP WHEN YOU’RE DONE, RANGE!” Cap exclaimed in the background.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered as he wrapped his hand around and used the washcloth to clean off my face a bit. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but you’re not there. You’re safe here, you have my word.”
It wasn’t about safety. It was about the only place I ever really called home no longer feeling like home. I grew up without a home. I mean, I lived with my dad, sure. But that wasn’t a home. I created one for myself in that little studio apartment. A little slice of heaven, where I didn’t have the fanciest things, but I had the things that brought me joy.
It was all gone.
And people kept trampling all over it like I hadn’t poured my blood, sweat, and tears into that place.
“I’m never gonna get out of debt,” I sniveled out before another round of nausea overtook me.
“Ssshhh,” Ghost shushed softly as he rubbed his hand up and down my back.
“WE NEED FRESH EYES ON THAT LAW FIRM! WHO’S MAKING THE TRIP!?” Cap exclaimed in the background.
My body shivered as I grasped the toilet for dear life. “I’ll never have a good life. I’ll never have a home. I can’t even climbout of debt. This job… I should’ve known… I… the money they pay me… I’ll…”
The gagging stopped me in my tracks, and before I knew it, the bread and butter came up in nothing but an acidic ball.
Like my body didn’t even try to digest it.
“Just focus on your body for now,” Ghost whispered as he pressed a kiss to the back of my head. “One thing at a time.”
I heard Cap’s voice thunder in the distance again, but I didn’t know what he said. I whimpered when Ghost moved away from me, and then I heard the click of the door.
The turn of the lock.
All of the chaotic sounds beyond the bathroom were muffled.
